It was a morning much like any other in Doma City. Clear skies and warm weather saw people cheerfully bustling about their business on the city streets. In one area, however, the mood was decidedly more sober.

While the countryside of Doma wasn't exactly a hundred percent safe, the Guard could be relied upon to clear out any bandit groups large enough to threaten a merchant caravan. Lately however, that had changed. Caravans on the road to the port city of Kohlingen had been hit by mysterious raiders, their contents looted. Lives had been lost and, more importantly to some, profits had been cut.

There seemed to be no pattern to which caravans were hit, and attempts to track the bandits had ended in failure. As a result, notices had gone up around the city offering good rates for mercenaries willing to sign on with merchant caravans travelling to Kohlingen.

A typical example of such a notice could be found on the noticeboard of the Jade Dragon Inn.

He had spent his time wandering since he had last been on Water. Thus, it had been some time before he had busied himself with some sort of employment.

.. additional money would help in a place like this, he admitted to himself. All of the Doman currency he had obtained in the shop of 'Ninja Ned's' had been spent.

He did not know much of the history behind this notice, but from what little he had heard, it also involves thieves. A rather despicable type. So if he did sign on... he would at least have morally agreeable reasons to do so.

Idran walks downstairs within the Jade Dragon, having just finished his preparations to leave. Having spent the last few weeks in Doma, more or less, he is quite ready to leave the city for a while. He begins heading towards the exit, when he passes the notice board. The newly posted notice pops out at him from it, and he stops to read the information.

IM: Hmm. Somewhat brief. If luck is with me, this is related to the raids I've heard about on the Doma-Kohlingen route. Might as well check into it, possibly kill two birds with one stone.

He makes a note of the address, and after a brief inquiry to find the direction, he begins heading towards the export company.

Jaeko sat at a table, thinking to himself. He adjusted his dark mirrored shades and took a look at the notice. When it was unattended, he stood and made his way over to it. Quickly reading it, he thought it over in his head quickly. Realising he had been a little slow with his 'other' jobs recently, he quickly thrust his hands into his pockets and made his way for the listed address.

Silvanus took a careful look at the notice on the noticeboard of the Jade Dragon.

Ceris Exports.... 38 Kings' Way....... maybe this kinda thing'll take my mind off that damned nightmare for once. And hazard pay as well.... should be easy, though.

Thusly, he put a hand near the blade portions of the two swords strapped to his back. He'd strapped them between his wings in the hopes that they wouldn't interfere with their movement, but it didn't always work.

...ah well, if I'm uncomfortable, I can always remove the normal one. Fabelia's a bit risky to drop, however.

He made his way to the listed address, mentally repeating it in his head. After a while, however, this mental repetition started to irritate Silvanus's most constant companion, which was the darker of his two swords, Fabelia. And Fabelia made this clear.

....dammit Silvanus, stop naming the same place over and over!Quiet, Fabelia, I'm trying to think.Think? You? Don't make me LAUGH!No, seriously. If I want to get that damned nightmare off my mind, this is the best way.So I can go back to torturing you like I always do?Yes. Now stay calm and let me think.

(OOC: Okay, if it's unclear to anyone, this last bit is supposed to be telepathy between Silvanus and Fabelia. Bold-type is Fabelia's thoughts, and non-bold is Silvanus's. And, in general, any of Fabelia's telepathy is going to be both italic and bold. Silvanus's will be just italic.)

38 Kings' Way turned out to be an impressive two storey stone building. Granite columns with vines carved into their surface framed an entryway large enough to accommodate a laden wagon. Whoever owned this place was definitely rich. As, it seemed, was the rest of the neighbourhood. From time to time, someone would enter or leave the building, apparently engaged in some urgent business.

Even as Assassin, Jaeko, Silvanus and Idran arrived on the scene, a particularly mismatched pair ascended the steps to the buildings entrance. One was clad in leather armour, with a large axe slung across his back, whilst the other was slight, and dressed in the robes of a black mage. Others, it seemed, had also seen the notices.

Well well.... it's some rich guy. I can see why he's hiring escorts, but.... geez. Guess this is my kind of job.

Silvanus also followed the mismatched duo, not commenting on their differences. If he saw any of the others, he gave absolutely no indication of it. He was being single-minded in pursuing this job.

.....right up until Fabelia put out another thought, this one in a far more humorous manner, to him.

Move over, bad people, because Fabelia's in town, and he'll make you pay!....you're not doing it right, Fabelia. You're supposed to wait until the bad people are already THERE.*sigh* .....whatever.Now let me take care of things.

Another man approached the building, a slightly unkempt mop of dark brown hair atop his head. Decked out in studded leather armour, with a bow slung over his shoulder and an axe strapped to his thigh, it was clear he was either an adventurer or a mercenary. Most likely the later, since he ascended the stairs into the building, glancing at those he passed by.

Petlamin hadn't believed the notice when he'd first read it. Two thousand gil if nothing happened, and more if it did. He couldn't pass that up, even if he hadn't been short of coin. That, and he was always up for a little excitement in his life. And, over the past few weeks, the most exciting thing that'd happened was talking to an excitable nekojin girl and drunkenly trying to pick on a little Baronian brat he'd had the misfortune of getting to know.

Idran, as the others starting to arrive, follows the pair of possible applicants up to the entrance, looking around and watching the others arriving for the job, or any other business they might be having here. He notices Silvanus heading up near him.

Within, a well-lit foyer opened out, twin staircases ascending to the second floor on either side of the room. In the centre, a large mahogany desk stood, papers arranged in neat piles. The manner of the man behind the desk screamed 'secretary'. He was dressed in a neat grey suit, and was engaged in making notes on a document as the group made their way in.

Noting the new arrivals, he looked up from his work and beckoned them over.

"So I had assumed," the man said, nodding. "Mrs Ceris is handling the interviews personally. I should point out that half a dozen applicants have already been turned away, so if you were expecting a soft job, you may as well leave now. That said, Mrs Ceris can be found in the courtyard, through those doors and down the corridor. I wish you all luck." Having pointed out a small set of doors, the secretary returned to his paperwork.

The fighter and mage pair, standing nearby, turned to each other and shrugged in unison. "The pay's still good," the fighter remarked, receiving a nod in return.

Not saying a word to the secretary, Jaeko simply continued following. Like a typical Barian, he was almost positive that he'd breeze through the 'interview' and be well on his way, though he couldn't get one nagging thought out of his head-

The courtyard, when reached, proved to be a hive of activity. A group of men was struggling to manoeuvrea marble statue of a nekojin onto a wagon using a crane, whilst another was loading crates onto a second wagon. This activity was overseen by a woman in dark blue travelling clothes.

So far as the courtyard itself went, a statue of a warrior on a chocobo stood atop a fountain in the centre, while stables could be seen to the right.

He had been aware of the woman in blue travelling clothes, and assumed that she was the one to talk to about the case.. and any subsequent payments. He hesitated to speak until the others made a move, though.

Jaeko had assumed the same as Assassin- that the woman in blue was the one to talk to in this situation. Trying to keep his eyes away from the statue of the nekojin, he made his way forward with Assassin, and likewise, waiting for the others before speaking.

Idran looks around the courtyard, taking in the goings-on in the area. After hearing Silvanus's question towards the woman in blue, he heads over to her. Not bothering to say anything, he merely tips his hat towards her, and waits for her reply.

"Yes, that's me," she said, turning to regard the group. "Siolen Ceris. You'll be here about the mercenary work, won't you?" Although work on loading the wagons continued, most of the workers seemed to have one eye on the conversation.

One pair detatched themselves with what seemed to be practiced efficiency, heading for the stables. Another man scooped up a quarterstaff from the bed of one of the wagons, twirling it idly as he walked over. It seemed that the 'interview' would involve something of a hands-on component.

"That's up to you, really. You can either try to get a hit past Orlan's defenses, or you can demonstrate your destructive abilities on Jimmy." She pointed towards a pair emerging from the stables. Between them, they were carrying a large wooden dummy out into a clear space. This, apparently, was Jimmy. From the looks of the scorch marks adorning him, it seemed he had a history of being used as target practice.

"I'm Jaeko. Jaeko Messiah Willaims, formerly of the Black Soul Knights. Left due to complications. I'm a bountyhunter and mercenary. Figured this would qualify as a 'merc job', so to speak. As far as my combat abilities go, I'm a gunman. Anything else you need to know?"

"My name's Silvanus Banetail. More of a mercenary swordsman than anything else. Some time ago, I had to fight my way out of some lich's prison, and one of the swords he owned took a liking to me." Silvanus turned his head a bit to indicate Fabelia here.

"I'm Idran, Cosmic Mage. Honestly, I don't normally take mercenary jobs like this, but I was heading to Kohlingen anyway, and since I used to be part of the merchant business, I couldn't just stand by and let these attacks continue. Anyway, since some are unaware of what exactly a Cosmic Mage is, I specialize in the magics of space and time. Like I said, I'm not really a mercenary, more of an independant magic researcher actually, but I'm no slouch when it comes to combat."

"Petlamin's m'name, or Petty, if you preffer. Archer ext'aordinaire. Can do a bit of magic wit' my arrows, and some by it'elf to. Like t'ese people here, I'm a merc sometimes, alt'ough I don't plan t'make a life job of it."

"I'm Jarl," the fighter spoke up, "I'm more of the carreer type merc, least until I get enough cash to retire. Been at it for about five years now, met Andre here a couple years back, and we figured we made a good team, so we stuck together."

"I'm Andre Meritt," the mage said softly, "I'm a black mage, as you may have guessed, and I'm in pretty much the same boat as Jarl." Seemingly embarrassed by the attention, Andre trailed off. This only left Assassin to speak.